What motivates you to grow your own?

[revolvingtoast]

Definitely the health benefits. I know exactly what has gone into my food if I have grown it. It's better for both me and the environment. Plus it's a lot cheaper.

I generally benefit from having some kind of useful project going on too, so this satisfies that need very nicely. I like to feel as though I'm contributing to something

Plus I live in the city so there isn't an awful lot of greenery. It's nice to create some wherever possible. Greenery that I can eat is even better. The taste is also so much better than anything I've ever bought.

 

[Whitewolf2578]

People will probably think this is silly, but I like to grow my own vegetables and fruits because I love watching them grow, especially if it is from seed. Most people will buy Tomato plants, but I saved a lot of money and planted them from seed and now they come up to my waste. I just like feeling proud that I grew my own plants and when people come over they are like "Wow you are amazing"

 

[Annabell]

Mostly, before costs or anything like that, because it's fun!

It's a handy little activity that doesn't take all that much effort, and the kids I work with enjoy being able to plant something and nuture it into growing. You should see how excited the little ones get when they first see a sproutling that they planted!

 

[Tommyotommy]

I have a few reasons. The biggest one is just that I really enjoy it. On top of that however...I know it's healthy (healthier eating and exercise). I also run a blog about gardening so I kind of have to garden in order to post. Lol

Sharing with friends and family is a joy too.

 

[Raff_Out_Loud]

I live in an apartment and have very little patio space to grow. But what I do get away with is always fun and rewarding. Here are just a few of many reasons:

- The foliage brightens up the apartment landscaping
- It's good practice for when I have a house and can grow a real garden that could potentially replace the produce section at my grocery store
- It's nice to be able to reap the rewards of patience and care
- I'm using space for a useful purpose

It goes on.

 

[aas1277]

There are many reasons why we plant a garden. It's fun for our children to watch the plants grow and to harvest the veggies. Chances are if they grew it they will taste it so it's easier to get them to try new things. Home grown veggies are so delicious and fresh. They always taste better than store bought. Of course it does also save some money for us in the summer months when we are grilling all the time. We purposely plant eggplant, squash, peppers, etc. so that we can grill it and use it when we bbq.

 

[limcid]

For me, it's a great sense of power and control over one's own life that I get when growing and eating my own food. It's also a true feeling of being blessed. It's really an amazingly fulfilling process to go through. You almost feel sorry for people who've never had truly real food before, and many have not. The sounds, the smells, the touch, the TASTE, and the beauty all come together to make it almost a religious experience. So many people just have no idea of the greatness that they're missing.

 

[kammy]

When i do my own gardening it allows me to save back a few dollars and i enjoy gardening immensely as it affords me total peace of mind ad that is just priceless.

 

[InvasiveCreeper]

Same thing that motivates me to breath air, walk in the woods, and wake up in the morning.

As anthropoids we get to return to the real world

 

[Arielphf]

I just love being in the garden, watching things grow and the taste of fresh, home grown vegetables. There are also things I can grow that you can't find in the stores around here. This year, I grew shallots and for the first time was able to enjoy them in my zucchini crab cakes. They were delicious!

But I think it's mainly because I love gardening. Who wouldn't enjoy this?

 

[Rosyrain]

Growing your own food ensures that you are eating the most healthy food available to you. It is nice to know what goes into the dirt and plants that you grow so that you can eat food that is free of pesticides and other harmful chemicals. Growing your own food is also a much cheaper way to go about eating healthy. When it is labeled as "organic" in the store, the price automatically goes up.

 

[sunflowerpower]

I really enjoy the whole process.
It's something the entire family gets into and it ends up being worth far more than the cost of the produce we collect.
Part of it is nostalgia value, since I grew up gardening with my mom. Digging in the garden in the sun brings back wonderful memories.
It's also nice to have fresh produce right outside. I can walk out my back kitchen door and collect a basket of fresh tomatoes, salad greens, cucumbers, and herbs for dinner.
The fact that I know exactly where those veggies came from and that they were grown organically is just a bonus.
Where I live we also spend a lot of the year stuck indoors with bad weather, so gardening is only really possible for part of each year. I always try to take advantage of the nice weather and sunshine while we have it!

 

[purplepen88]

I started growing a vegetable garden for the fun of it and because I could. When we bought our home it has a large big yard and I figured I'd try my hand at gardening. Turns out I love tending to it, weeding it, watering it. Then along came two kids and I love teaching them about gardening and growing our own vegetables. They love picking the hot peppers we grow for their dad. Best of all we know what we are eating and they appreciate all the work that goes into keeping and maintaining a garden. They have more respect now for the environment and I hope will be less wasteful.

 

[redhound15]

My dad was a dryland farmer for the first 11 years of my life, now looking back i realize that digging in dirt is just maybe instilled in my blood. To me there is nothing like getting down and dirty planting those seed and then watching things grow and produce from all those tiny seeds, what a miracle it is. Then of course to enjoy the harvest and eating all those good things makes me very humble and thankful that at my age of 78 i can ans still enjoy "digging in dirt".

 

[Trellum]

Right now I'm not growing any edibles, but me and my fiance want to start doing that next year in our new house I guess what motivates us being able to produce our own organic cilantro and celery. As well as our own chilies and tomatillos (we are going to see if it's possible to do that over there). Because there are some chilies that I just can't find in Amsterdam.